News from the Bellbrook High School newspaper class

Concert Review: The Saint Pablo Tour Hits Columbus

by: Meghan Malas

On September 25, Columbus experienced one of the most highly-anticipated tours of the year starring Kanye West. After the success of his The Life of Pablo album this past winter, along with numerous shows and collaborations since the beginning of 2016, West kicked off his tour in Indianapolis on August 25. In exactly one month, Kanye West performed in fourteen more cities, before arriving at his 16th show at the Schottenstein Center, located just off Ohio State’s Campus.

It was at this show where I experienced one the most well-done shows of my life. The concert was enjoyable for many reasons. For starters, the layout of the Schottenstein Center made it so everyone attending the show would eventually see Kanye West in a decently close proximity at one point or another. This is thanks to West’s notable floating platform which he performed on for the entirety of the show. Flying just feet above the general admission section, this layout gave a whole new experience to The Saint Pablo Tour.

The technology and visual aspect of the tour was remarkable as well. The most memorable moment was during the performance of “Fade,” when a layer of bright red lasers shot across the smoke-filled stadium, level with West’s body as he stood on his platform. As he moved across his stage, his figure blocked the corresponding lasers from the sea of light passing through, creating an amazing spectacle.

In addition to the visual aspects of the show, the set list performed was very well picked. Kanye West performed all the songs on his new album, but not in full. This ended up being an advantage as he had more time to sing and rap his more popular, older songs, which are typically the crowd favorites. All in all, I particularly loved the show because I am a fan of Kanye West’s music and performance style. Combined with the atmosphere, and my favorite songs being sung by thousands of people, Kanye created an experience I will not soon forget.